Ya’alon: “It’s time for the state to have a prime minister who has nothing to be investigated about.” Photo Credit: Reuters/Channel 2 News

Although former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon left his position in the government and Knesset a year ago, he seems to be sitting on the sidelines preparing for the next election. On Friday, in an extensive interview with Tel Aviv Radio’s Roy Katz, the former minister slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the interview, which was broadcasted on the station’s “Friday’s Parliament” program, Ya’alon claimed that he prefers that Marwan Barghouti, who is leading the prisoner hunger strike, “rot in jail” after his hypocrisy was revealed. “It was very significant that he was caught in the act and I hope that the prisoners will understand he is actually politically manipulating them.”

Regarding Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians, he repeated his position: “There is no partner for a final status agreement. The Palestinians depend on us and will depend on us for many more years. They are unable to exist without us. We have to aspire to arrive at a regular situation that exists de facto today, even between us and Hamas. I don’t see any chance an agreement will be reached, yet on the other hand, I do not want to govern them.”

Ya’alon continued to attack the phenomena he said are common in the government today such as corruption and the crossing of red lines: “I am well versed in the Submarine 3000 Affair – the submarines and vessels. I saw corruption there, of course. I personally blocked a deal that was supposed to go into effect, which was suspended until I resigned, but it was renewed after they replaced me.”

“We are already talking about three consecutive governments where a police investigation into the prime minister has been being conducted,” Ya’alon continued. “This time, there are three investigations alone and it is time for the state to have a prime minister who has nothing to be investigated about.” When asked whether Netanyahu is corrupt, Ya’alon replied: “I did not think so until these events. I was really surprised.”